The Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program is in its tenth year of training the opera stars of tomorrow. The process to become a Young Artist is a competitive one – as you can hear in the interview below – but the program offers training and exposure in an atmosphere this year’s participants say you just can’t find anywhere else.

I had a chance to talk to Young Artists coach Nino Sanikidze and five of this year’s singers about their experiences so far (click on the player below to hear our conversation). Some of them are currently on stage in LA Opera’s production of Salome, and several of them will be in Tales of Hoffman, which opens later this month at LA Opera. You can hear all of this year’s young artists on April 1st at Domingo’s Young Artists Concert, which will also feature Plácido Domingo, himself, plus Sondra Radvanovsky and distinguished alumni of the program.